We had the best part of a day in Leeds as we were going to meet up with a cousin living locally and some of her grand children. It gave us a chance to have a look around the Royal Armouries and the environs.
From the main tower stairwell we could look down on the Leeds Lock. It is the first small one as the commercial traffic for which the canal was enlarged for only got as far as the Leeds oil terminal which was the Leeds side of Knostrop flood lock. Just before the lock were the warehouses, included bonded and container terminal
After lunch with passengers aboard we set off out of Granary Wharf and onto the River Aire for the last time this trip. We passed under the Crown Point Bridge and then approached Leeds Bridge that if you look closely you can see the city coat of arms. The central motif is a hanging fleece as this was a wool town. The three stars and owls are taken from coats of arms of local families and the motto is 'Pro rege et lege' or for King and the Law!
The next bridge is Victoria Bridge and this marks the end of the Aire and Calder Navigation and the start of the Leeds and Liverpool Canal. The first lock of the L&L, River Lock, can be seen through the bridge with the water taxi that runs from Granary Wharf to here frequently and I think it is free. We waited for the taxi to clear before heading over to land folk to open the gates. The Dark Arches, where the river runs in tunnels below the railway station and there are shops and car parks is off to the right.
With several locks to pass through you also pass a variety of buildings such as mills, factories along with Kirkstall PrioryThere is a great variety of lock gear on the L&L and here at Kirkstall is one I haven't seen on any other canal. In fact this example isn't working but is retained for show. We met up with the local C&RT bloke who told us that we would just make it through the two sets of three rise locks before they were closed for the night. Iy seems that in years gone past there has been much trouble over night at these locks, but no so far to us passing. They even had a security guard there. As we had a lock buddy who was travelling on we continued on.
Here we are just coming up either Forge or Newlay 3 Rise locks with the passengers surveying the scene. We stopped just after Newlay 3 rise as we could then walk to my cousins where we were rewarded with a lovely meal and a drink at the Abbey Inn near Fall Wood Marina.
The next day we started off along the canal and soon came to the first of the many swing bridges that cross the canal before you get to Liverpool. It is bridge 219 at Ross Mill. There weren't many that were difficult to move for either Helen or me.
A little further on we approached Apperly Bridge and as we passed Swiftcraft's yard we saw Thornhill Bridge as seen above. This was part of a grand scheme that was started to run a road in a cutting right through Calverley Wood. Much would be in a sandstone cutting and it would create a new, more direct road than the original packhorse road that was then in use. The idea was to open up the woods for a very grand housing scheme for the rich. It didn't really work as people didn't use the new road as, although more direct it was much steeper. We get a very ornate bridge out of it though.
As we approached the electric swing bridge before the staircase lock at Dobson 2 rise it did not look good. The cabinet was open and a couple of blokes were peering at the innards. However it was only a minute before they needed to have a test run and as it worked they allowed us through, There were a couple of boats on the other side who had been waiting a while so we just timed it well.
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